Market Newsdesk

August 17, 2021 7:03 am

monday.com Announces Second Quarter 2021 Results

monday.com Announces Second Quarter 2021 Results

Second quarter revenue growth accelerated to 94% year over year

Net-dollar-retention rate for customers with 10+ users was over 125%

Introduces strong Q3 and fiscal year guidance

Announced monday workdocs, a new capability that turns documents into actionable workflows

NEW YORK & TEL AVIV, Israel–(BUSINESS WIRE)–monday.com (NASDAQ: MNDY), a work operating system (Work OS) where organizations of any size can create the tools and processes they need to manage every aspect of their work, today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2021 ended June 30, 2021.

Management Commentary:

“We delivered strong results in our first quarter as a public company, as strong execution and expanding adoption of monday.com Work OS drove total revenue growth of 94%. We are pleased with the momentum in our business that demonstrates continued high growth at scale,” said monday.com founder and co-CEO, Roy Mann. “monday.com Work OS is the leader in the low-code no-code market, and our business is accelerating as we continue to expand platform usage into use cases such as operations, project management, CRM, finance, marketing, HR, and IT,” said monday.com founder and co-CEO, Eran Zinman.

“Rapid growth in the second quarter was driven by large expansions within our existing base and strong growth upmarket as we continue to see momentum in Enterprise,” said Eliran Glazer, monday.com CFO. “While we have made tremendous progress in the last few years, we believe that we are still in the very early stages of our growth as a company, and our guidance for the balance of 2021 suggests a strong second half of the year as we continue to drive fundamental improvements to the future of work and collaboration for companies of all sizes globally.”

Second Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Highlights:

Revenue was $70.6 million, an increase of 94% year-over-year.
GAAP operating loss was $27.5 million compared to a loss of $28.2 million, in the second quarter of 2020; GAAP operating margin was negative 39%, compared to negative 77% in the second quarter of 2020.
Non-GAAP operating loss was $9.9 million compared to a loss of $14.9 million, in the second quarter of 2020; non-GAAP operating margin was negative 14% compared to negative 41%, in the second quarter of 2020.
GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share was $1.67 compared to GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share of $2.79, in the second quarter of 2020; non-GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share was $0.26 compared to non-GAAP net loss per basic and diluted share of $0.39, in the second quarter of 2020.
Net cash used in operating activities was negative $0.4 million, with negative adjusted free cash flow of $1.5 million, compared to negative net cash used in operating activities of $13.9 million and $15.0 million of negative adjusted free cash flow, in the second quarter of 2020.
Cash, cash equivalents, short-term deposits and restricted cash was $878.0 million as of June 30, 2021, including $21 million from borrowings under our revolving credit facility, and net proceeds from our IPO and concurrent private placement of $736.2 million.

Recent Business Highlights:

Our net dollar retention rate for customers with more than 10 users was over 125%.
The number of paid enterprise customers with more than $50,000 in annual recurring revenue was 470, up 226% from 144, in the second quarter of 2020.
Announced monday workdocs, a completely new capability to monday.com Work OS, which enables organizations to take document collaboration to new levels. Documents are the starting point for work and monday workdocs is a completely new style of connected documents that are built to support collaboration, with live objects that update in real time whenever their source of data changes. The introduction of monday workdocs is a significant opportunity to provide our customers with new ways to create no-code, low-code software and expand how monday.com is adopted across organizations of all sizes.
Announced the official launch of the free tier of monday.com, limited to two users. The free offering is designed to increase our market opportunity by driving awareness and broader adoption among a new set of audiences.
Notable new customer wins or expansions during the quarter included Headspace, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, Mintel, and Adyen.
New strategic alliances with Global Systems Integrators across key industries such as manufacturing and real estate including Hitachi Solutions and NTT-Data.
Continued international and geographic expansion with new channel partners, customer deals, and increasing our ARR in this region. Added Polish as a new supported language, increasing our total languages supported to 14 languages.

Financial Outlook:

For the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021, monday.com currently expects:

Total revenue of $74 to $75 million, representing year-over-year growth of 74% to 76%.
Non-GAAP operating loss of $26 million to $25 million.

For the full year 2021, monday.com currently expects:

Total revenue of $280 million to $282 million, representing year-over-year growth of 74% to 75%.
Non-GAAP operating loss of $93 million to $91 million and negative operating margin of between 33% and 32%.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

This press release and the accompanying tables contain the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses, non-GAAP research and development expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share and adjusted free cash flow. Certain of these non-GAAP financial measures exclude share-based compensation.

monday.com believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to monday.com’s financial condition and results of operations. monday.com management uses these non-GAAP measures to compare monday.com performance to that of prior periods for trend analysis and for budgeting and planning purposes. monday.com believes that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing monday.com financial results to the results of other software companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. The non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP measures used by other companies.

Management does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in monday.com financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgment by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures.

Reconciliation tables of the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are included with the financial tables at the end of this release. monday.com urges investors to review these reconciliation tables and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the monday.com business. Management is not able to forecast GAAPnet loss attributable to ordinary shareholders on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable efforts due to the high variability and difficulty in predicting share-based compensation expense, the amounts of which may be significant in future periods.

Definitions of Key Performance Indicators:

Annual Recurring Revenue (“ARR”)

Is defined to mean, as of the measurement date, the annualized value of our customer subscription plans assuming that any contract that expires during the next 12 months is renewed on its existing terms.

Net Dollar Retention Rate

We calculate Net Dollar Retention Rate as of a period end by starting with the ARR from customers as of the 12 months prior to such period end (“Prior Period ARR”). We then calculate the ARR from these customers as of the current period end (“Current Period ARR”). The calculation of Current Period ARR includes any upsells, contraction and attrition. We then divide the total Current Period ARR by the total Prior Period ARR to arrive at the net dollar expansion rate. For the trailing 12-month calculation, we take a weighted average of this calculation of our quarterly Net Dollar Retention Rate for the four quarters ending with the most recent quarter.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our financial outlook and market positioning. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were first issued and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Words such as “outlook,” “guidance,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “hope,” “target,” “project,” “plan,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “intend,” “shall” and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond monday.com control. monday.com actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to our ability to predict our revenue and evaluate our business and future prospects; our ability to manage our growth effectively execute our business plan or maintain high levels of service and customer satisfaction; our ability to achieve and maintain profitability and compete effectively with established companies and new market entrants in a competitive and rapidly changing market; interruptions or performance problems associated with the technology or infrastructure underlying our platform; real or perceived errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs in our Work OS; our ability to attract customers, grow our retention rates, expand usage within organizations and sell subscription plans; our ability to offer high-quality customer support; our ability to effectively develop and expand our direct sales capabilities; our ability to enhance our reputation and market awareness of our Work OS; actions by governments to restrict access to our platform in their countries; our ability to identify and integrate future acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships or alliances; our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees; our ability to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies; the market and software categories in which we participate; our ability to ensure that our Work OS interoperates with a variety of software applications that are developed by third parties; the success of our strategic relationships with third parties; privacy, data and cybersecurity incidents or any actual or perceived failure by monday.com to comply with privacy, data protection, information security, consumer privacy, data residency, or telecommunications laws, regulations, government access requests, and obligations; intellectual property disputes; changes in foreign exchange rates; general political or destabilizing events, including war, conflict or acts of terrorism and other factors described in “Risk Factors” in our prospectus for the initial public offering of our ordinary shares filed with the SEC on June, 11, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Further information on potential risks that could affect actual results will be included in the subsequent filings that monday.com makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent monday.com views as of the date of this press release. monday.com anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. monday.com undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing monday.com views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Earnings Webcast:

monday.com will hold a public webcast at 8:30 a.m. ET today to discuss the results for its second quarter of 2021 and financial outlook. A link to the live webcast of the conference call, will be made available on monday.com’s investor relations website at https://ir.monday.com/events/event-details/mondaycom-q2-fiscal-2021-earnings-conference-call. The live call may also be accessed by dialing (877) 311-0436 within the U.S., and (470) 495-9349 internationally. The conference ID is 2478416. The webcast replay and audio download will also be available on our Investor Relations website.

Investor Presentation Details:

An investor presentation providing additional information can be found at http://ir.monday.com.

About monday.com:

monday.com Work OS is an open platform that democratizes the power of software so organizations can easily build software applications and work management tools to fit their every need. The platform intuitively connects people to processes and systems, empowering teams to excel in every aspect of their work. monday.com has teams in Tel Aviv, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, London, Kiev, and Sydney. The platform is fully customizable to suit any business vertical and is currently used by over 127,000 customers across over 200 industries in more than 190 countries.

Visit us on our LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

For more about monday.com please visit our Press Room.

MONDAY.COM LTD

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(U.S. dollars in thousands, except share and per share data; Unaudited)

Three months ended June 30,

Six months ended June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Revenue

$

70,615

$

36,460

$

129,587

$

68,389

Cost of revenue

9,108

4,883

17,032

9,474

Gross profit

61,507

31,577

112,555

58,915

Operating expenses:

Research and development

16,271

12,781

31,852

19,432

Sales and marketing

61,057

39,636

124,105

76,581

General and administrative

11,648

7,351

21,914

11,096

Total operating expenses

88,976

59,768

177,871

107,109

Operating loss

(27,469

)

(28,191

)

(65,316

)

(48,194

)

Financial income (expense), net

(359

)

141

(765

)

490

Loss before income taxes

(27,828

)

(28,050

)

(66,081

)

(47,704

)

Income tax expense

(1,063

)

(350

)

(1,762

)

(559

)

Net loss

$

(28,891

)

$

(28,400

)

$

(67,843

)

$

(48,263

)

Deemed dividend to preferred shareholders

(3,589

)

(4,665

)

(8,203

)

(9,331

)

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders

$

(32,480

)

$

(33,065

)

$

(76,046

)

$

(57,594

)

Net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders’, basic and diluted

$

(1.67

)

$

(2.79

)

$

(4.78

)

$

(4.88

)

Weighted-average ordinary shares used in calculating net loss per ordinary share, basic and diluted

19,417,672

11,836,484

15,924,392

11,807,296

MONDAY.COM LTD

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(U.S. dollars in thousands, except share and per share data; Unaudited)

June 30

December 31

2021

2020

ASSETS

CURRENT ASSETS:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

865,328

$

129,814

Short term deposits

10,051

10,000

Accounts receivable, net

4,364

3,911

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

6,901

3,898

Total current assets

886,644

147,623

Property and equipment, net

13,905

7,178

Other long-term assets

2,100

2,619

Total assets

$

902,649

$

157,420

LIABILITIES, CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED SHARES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY

CURRENT LIABILITIES:

Accounts payable

$

25,325

$

25,734

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

34,529

22,967

Deferred revenue

101,923

70,719

Revolving credit facility

21,035

21,016

Total current liabilities

182,812

140,436

OTHER LONG-TERM LIABILITIES

1,244

1,045

Total liabilities

184,056

141,481

CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED SHARES

—

233,496

SHAREHOLDERS’ (DEFICIT) EQUITY:

Share capital and additional paid-in capital

1,102,802

98,809

Accumulated deficit

(384,209

)

(316,366

)

Total shareholders’ deficit

718,593

(217,557

)

Total liabilities, convertible preferred shares, and shareholders’ deficit

$

902,649

$

157,420

MONDAY.COM LTD

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(U.S. dollars in thousands; Unaudited)

Three months ended

Six months ended

June 30,

June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:

Net loss

$

(28,891

)

$

(28,400

)

$

(67,843

)

$

(48,263

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

Depreciation and amortization

527

441

1,074

787

Capital loss from sale of property and equipment

2

—

47

—

Share-based compensation

17,558

13,301

32,098

16,527

Change in accrued interest on revolving credit facility

(2

)

(12

)

19

(18

)

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

Accounts receivable, net

533

(2,636

)

(453

)

(2,306

)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

(429

)

(214

)

(2,058

)

(2,125

)

Accounts payable

(4,972

)

(1,416

)

(1,003

)

2,289

Accrued expenses and other liabilities

1,099

2,743

5,961

3,569

Deferred revenue

14,220

2,343

31,204

10,557

Net cash used in operating activities

(355

)

(13,850

)

(954

)

(18,983

)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:

Purchase of property and equipment

(1,358

)

(1,032

)

(5,581

)

(2,174

)

Capitalized software development costs

(718

)

(250

)

(1,158

)

(359

)

Proceeds from sale of property and equipment

—

—

21

—

Changes in short-term deposits

(51

)

—

(51

)

—

Net cash used in investing activities

(2,127

)

(1,282

)

(6,769

)

(2,533

)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

Proceeds from initial public offering and concurrent private placement, net of underwriting discounts and other issuance costs

736,227

—

736,020

—

Proceeds from exercise of share options

1,300

187

1,843

247

Receipt of revolving credit facility, net of payments

—

1,000

—

3,000

Receipt of tax advance relating to exercises of share options

6,023

—

6,023

—

Capital lease payments

(21

)

(18

)

(49

)

(36

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

743,529

1,169

743,837

3,211

INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH

741,047

(13,963

)

736,114

(18,305

)

CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH – Beginning of period

126,881

167,658

131,814

172,000

CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH – End of period

$

867,928

$

153,695

$

867,928

$

153,695

RECONCILIATION OF CASH, CASH EQUIVALENTS AND RESTRICTED CASH TO THE CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

865,328

$

151,695

$

865,328

$

151,695

Restricted cash – Included in prepaid expense and other current assets

600

—

600

—

Restricted cash – Included in other long-term assets

2,000

2,000

2,000

2,000

Total cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash

$

867,928

$

153,695

$

867,928

$

153,695

MONDAY.COM LTD

Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Information

Three months ended

Six months ended

June 30,

June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Reconciliation of gross profit and gross margin

GAAP gross profit

$

61,507

$

31,577

$

112,555

$

58,915

Share-based compensation

1,833

603

3,364

902

Non-GAAP gross profit

63,340

32,180

115,919

59,817

GAAP gross margin

87

%

87

%

87

%

86

%

Non-GAAP gross margin

90

%

88

%

89

%

87

%

Reconciliation of operating expenses

GAAP research and development

$

16,271

$

12,781

$

31,852

$

19,432

Share-based compensation

(5,068

)

(5,594

)

(9,605

)

(6,619

)

Non-GAAP research and development

$

11,203

$

7,187

$

22,247

$

12,813

GAAP sales and marketing

$

61,057

$

39,636

$

124,105

$

76,581

Share-based compensation

(5,536

)

(2,706

)

(9,570

)

(3,757

)

Non-GAAP sales and marketing

$

55,521

$

36,930

$

114,535

$

72,824

GAAP general and administrative

$

11,648

$

7,351

$

21,914

$

11,096

Share-based compensation

(5,121

)

(4,398

)

(9,559

)

(5,249

)

Non-GAAP general and administrative

$

6,527

$

2,953

$

12,355

$

5,847

Reconciliation of operating loss

GAAP operating loss

$

(27,469

)

$

(28,191

)

$

(65,316

)

$

(48,194

)

Share-based compensation

$

17,558

$

13,301

$

32,098

$

16,527

Non-GAAP operating loss

$

(9,911

)

$

(14,890

)

$

(33,218

)

$

(31,667

)

GAAP operating margin

(39

%)

(77

%)

(50

%)

(70 %)

Non-GAAP operating margin

(14

%)

(41

%)

(26

%)

(46 %)

Reconciliation of net loss

GAAP net loss

$

(28,891

)

$

(28,400

)

$

(67,843

)

$

(48,263

)

Share-based compensation

17,558

13,301

32,098

16,527

Non-GAAP net loss

$

(11,333

)

$

(15,099

)

$

(35,745

)

$

(31,736

)

Reconciliation of net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders

GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders

$

(32,480

)

$

(33,065

)

$

(76,046

)

$

(57,594

)

Deemed dividend to preferred shareholders

3,589

4,665

8,203

9,331

Share-based compensation

17,558

13,301

32,098

16,527

Non-GAAP net loss

$

(11,333

)

$

(15,099

)

$

(35,745

)

$

(31,736

)

GAAP net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders’, basic and diluted

$

(1.67

)

$

(2.79

)

$

(4.78

)

$

(4.88

)

Non-GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted

$

(0.26

)

$

(0.39

)

$

(0.81

)

$

(0.83

)

Reconciliation of basic and diluted weighted average number of shares outstanding

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share (GAAP)

19,417,672

11,836,484

15,924,392

11,807,296

Additional shares giving effect to IPO and concurrent private placement ⁽¹⁾

3,946,810

—

4,489,262

—

Additional shares giving effect to conversion of convertible preferred shares at the beginning of the period ⁽²⁾

20,629,197

26,440,239

23,518,666

26,440,239

Weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding used in computing basic and diluted net loss per share (Non-GAAP)

43,993,679

38,276,723

43,932,320

38,247,535

(1)

Assumes ordinary shares outstanding after accounting for the issuance of 5,037,742 ordinary shares associated with our initial public offering and concurrent private placement at the beginning of the first quarter of 2021 instead of the IPO closing date, June 10, 2021.

(2)

Assumes ordinary shares outstanding after accounting for the automatic conversion of the preferred shares then outstanding into ordinary shares at the beginning of fiscal year.

Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to adjusted free cash flow

Three months ended

Six months ended

June 30,

June 30,

2021

2020

2021

2020

Net cash provided by operating activities

$

(355

)

$

(13,850

)

$

(954

)

$

(18,983

)

Purchase of property and equipment

(1,358

)

(1,032

)

(5,581

)

(2,174

)

Capitalized software development costs

(718

)

(250

)

(1,158

)

(359

)

Purchase of property and equipment related to build-out of our new corporate headquarters

951

100

4,618

525

Adjusted free cash flow

(1,480

)

(15,032

)

(3,075

)

(20,991

)

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005252/en/

Media Relations:

Or Elmaliah

[email protected]

Investor Relations:

Alex Wellins

The Blueshirt Group, for monday.com

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America Israel Middle East New York

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Internet Data Management Other Technology Technology Software

MEDIA:

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Bright HealthCare Expands Affordable Plans in 42 New Markets Next Year Including in Texas, Georgia, Utah and Virginia

Bright HealthCare Expands Affordable Plans in 42 New Markets Next Year Including in Texas, Georgia, Utah and Virginia

New states include Texas, which has the third largest IFP population, significantly expanding Bright HealthCare’s total addressable market.

The company also announced an expanded product portfolio in states where it already does business, including Florida, California, Colorado and North Carolina.

Bright HealthCare will be the first plan in six years to be added to Covered California, California’s state-based exchange.

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Today, Bright HealthCare, the healthcare financing and distribution business of Bright Health Group (NYSE: BHG or the “Company”), announced its expansion into several new states for 2022. It also expanded its product portfolio in states where it already does business. The planned growth brings Bright HealthCare’s overall footprint to 17 states and 131 markets nationwide next year reaching over 16.5 million eligible consumers.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005366/en/

Map represents states covered and is not meant to represent actual coverage areas, which are county- and in some cases zip-code specific. All coverage areas are subject to benefit plan approval by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and/or final state regulatory approval, including requisite state insurance or HMO licensure approvals. (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Across nearly every one of our products and markets consumers are choosing Bright HealthCare. This shows that our integrated Care Partner model works.” said Simeon Schindelman, CEO, Bright HealthCare. “Our continued growth in expansion states like Texas, as well as existing states like California and Florida is further proof that our transformative model is not only meeting demand, but more importantly, lowering healthcare costs and improving quality for consumers while also building durable, trusting two-way relationships between consumers and primary care providers.”

Bright HealthCare offers health plans that serve consumers across their entire life journey, including individual and family, Medicare Advantage and employer-sponsored plans. These products are built around Integrated Systems of Care in each market and leverage Bright Health Group’s proprietary DocSquad™ technology which together have consistently shown to produce better outcomes.

“Bright Health Group is the nation’s first fully aligned, technology-enabled, integrated model of care,” said G. Mike Mikan, Bright Health Group President and CEO. “Our differentiated model is built on alignment between providers, payors and consumers and is working together to make healthcare simple, personal, and affordable.”

ABOUT BRIGHT HEALTHCARE

Bright HealthCare is a diversified healthcare financing and distribution platform that aggregates and delivers healthcare benefits to over 623,000 consumers through its various lines of business, which include Individual & Family Health Plans, Medicare Advantage Plans and Employer Plans. Bright HealthCare also participates in a number of specialized plans and is the nation’s third largest provider of Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs), a health plan that exclusively serves individuals with severe or disabling chronic conditions. To manage these complex and vulnerable populations, Bright HealthCare leverages its intelligent operating system and proprietary DocSquad™ solutions which has consistently shown to produce better outcomes. Bright HealthCare is part of Bright Health Group (NYSE: BHG). For more information, visit www.brighthealthcare.com.

ABOUT BRIGHT HEALTH GROUP

Bright Health Group is built upon the belief that by aligning the best local resources in healthcare delivery with the financing of care we can drive a superior consumer experience, optimize clinical outcomes, reduce systemic waste, and lower costs. We are a healthcare company building a national Integrated System of Care in close partnership with our Care Partners. Our differentiated approach is built on alignment, focused on the consumer, and powered by technology. We have two market facing businesses: NeueHealth and Bright HealthCare. Through NeueHealth, we deliver high-quality virtual and in-person clinical care to nearly 170,000 patients under value-based contracts through our 44 owned primary care clinics and support 87 additional affiliated clinics. Through Bright HealthCare, we offer Commercial and Medicare health plan products to approximately 663,000 consumers in 14 states and 99 markets as of June 30, 2021. For 2022, all coverage areas are subject to benefit plan approval by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and/or final state regulatory approval, including requisite state insurance or HMO licensure approvals. We are making healthcare right. Together. For more information, visit www.brighthealthgroup.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005366/en/

Investor Contact:

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Kris Patrow

651.492.1556

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America Minnesota

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: General Health Professional Services Health Insurance

MEDIA:

Logo

Photo

Map represents states covered and is not meant to represent actual coverage areas, which are county- and in some cases zip-code specific. All coverage areas are subject to benefit plan approval by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and/or final state regulatory approval, including requisite state insurance or HMO licensure approvals. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Day One Appoints Scott Garland to Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Day One Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DAWN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing targeted therapies for patients of all ages with genomically defined cancers, today announced the appointment of Scott Garland to the Company’s board of directors. Mr. Garland is a 30-year veteran of the biopharmaceutical industry with deep commercial and executive leadership experience.

“We are very pleased to welcome Scott to our board of directors at this important stage in Day One’s evolution,” said Jeremy Bender, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Day One. “Having led the launch of multiple new medicines, Scott’s commercial expertise will be invaluable as we advance our pivotal Phase 2 FIREFLY-1 clinical trial of DAY101 in pediatric patients with progressive low-grade glioma and prepare to initiate additional clinical trials.”

Mr. Garland is the chief executive officer of PACT Pharma, an immuno-oncology company focused on developing neoantigen targeted T-cell therapies for solid tumors. Prior to PACT, Mr. Garland served as president and chief executive officer of Portola Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company through the commercial launch of Andexxa^® and a successful acquisition by Alexion. Before joining Portola, Mr. Garland was at Relypsa, where he served as chief commercial officer, and then as president of the U.S. organization after Relypsa’s acquisition by Vifor Pharma. Prior to Relypsa, Mr. Garland was chief commercial officer at Exelixis where he led the launch of cabozantinib. Mr. Garland has held numerous other commercial leadership roles at Genentech, Amgen and Merck, including leading the commercial franchises for two multi-billion dollar therapies – Avastin^® and Rituxan^®. He also serves as a board member for Calithera Biosciences. Mr. Garland received a Bachelor of Science degree from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

“I am proud to join Day One’s board of directors and share in the Company’s mission of advancing promising new targeted cancer therapies for children and patients of all ages,” said Mr. Garland. “Day One’s product pipeline, led by DAY101, holds great potential for patients and I look forward to working with the Company’s talented board and management team to help prepare for potential commercialization.”

About DAY101

DAY101 is an investigational, oral, brain-penetrant, highly-selective type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor designed to target a key enzyme in the MAPK signaling pathway. Studies have shown DAY101 has high brain distribution and exposure in comparison to other MAPK pathway inhibitors, thus potentially benefiting patients with primary brain tumors or brain metastases of solid tumors. DAY101 is a type II RAF inhibitor found to selectively inhibit both monomeric and dimeric RAF kinase, which may broaden its potential clinical application to treat an array of RAF-altered tumors.

DAY101 has been studied in over 250 patients, and as a monotherapy demonstrated good tolerability and encouraging anti-tumor activity in pediatric and adult populations with specific MAPK pathway-alterations. In November 2020, Day One announced preliminary results from PNOC014, an ongoing Phase 1 Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC) network study with DAY101 sponsored by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Preliminary results demonstrated that of the eight relapsed pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) patients in the study with RAF fusions, two patients achieved a complete response by Response Assessment for Neuro-Oncology (RANO), three had a partial response, two achieved prolonged stable disease, and one experienced progressive disease. DAY101 also demonstrated a tolerable safety profile with the most common side effects being skin rash and hair color changes.

DAY101 has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with pLGG harboring an activating RAF alteration who require systemic therapy and who have either progressed following prior treatment or who have no satisfactory alternative treatment options. The FDA has also granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation to DAY101 for the treatment of low-grade gliomas harboring an activating RAF alteration that disproportionately affects children. In addition, DAY101 has received Orphan Drug designation from the FDA for the treatment of malignant glioma and orphan designation from the European Commission for the treatment of glioma.

Day One is conducting a pivotal Phase 2 trial (FIREFLY-1) of DAY101 in pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients with pLGG. Day One also plans to study DAY101 alone or in combination with other agents that target key signaling nodes in the MAPK pathway, such as the Company’s MEK inhibitor pimasertib, in patient populations where various RAS and RAF alterations are believed to play an important role in driving disease.

About Day One Biopharmaceuticals

Day One Biopharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing targeted therapies for patients of all ages with genomically defined cancers. Day One was founded to address a critical unmet need: children with cancer are being left behind in a cancer drug development revolution. Our name was inspired by the “The Day One Talk”¹ that physicians have with patients and their families about an initial cancer diagnosis and treatment plan. We aim to re-envision cancer drug development and redefine what’s possible for all people living with cancer—regardless of age—starting from Day One.

Day One partners with leading clinical oncologists, families, and scientists to identify, acquire, and develop important emerging cancer treatments. The Company’s lead product candidate, DAY101, is an oral, highly-selective type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor, and is being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 2 clinical trial (FIREFLY-1) in pediatric, adolescent and young adult patients with recurrent or progressive low-grade glioma (pLGG). The Company’s pipeline also includes the investigational agent pimasertib, a clinical-stage, oral, small molecule found to selectively inhibit mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases 1 and 2 (MEK). Through Day One and its collaborators, cancer drug development comes of age. Day One is based in South San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.dayonebio.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to: Day One’s plans to develop cancer therapies, expectations from current clinical trials, the execution of the Phase 2 clinical trial for DAY101 as designed, any expectations about safety, efficacy, timing and ability to complete clinical trials and to obtain regulatory approvals for DAY101 and other candidates in development, and the ability of DAY101 to treat pLGG or related indications.

Statements including words such as “believe,” “plan,” “continue,” “expect,” “will,” “develop,” “signal,” “potential,” or “ongoing” and statements in the future tense are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions, which, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause Day One’s actual activities or results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, including risks and uncertainties in this press release and other risks set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Day One’s ability to develop, obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize any product candidate, Day One’s ability to protect intellectual property, the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sufficiency of Day One’s cash, cash equivalents and investments to fund its operations. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof and Day One specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements or reasons why actual results might differ, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

¹Jennifer W. Mack and Holcombe E. Grier; Journal of Clinical Oncology 2004 22:3, 563-566

Contacts:

Media:
1AB
Dan Budwick
[email protected]

Investors:
LifeSci Advisors
Hans Vitzthum
[email protected]

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Plymouth Industrial REIT Closes $500 Million Unsecured Credit Facilities

Plymouth Industrial REIT Closes $500 Million Unsecured Credit Facilities

Amendments to existing credit facility, new term loan and accordion feature bring total borrowing capacity to $1 billion

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) announced that it has entered into a combined $500 million unsecured credit facility, which is comprised of an amended $200 million revolving credit facility, an amended $100 million term loan, and a new $200 million term loan, providing expanded borrowing capacity and greater capital structure flexibility with lower borrowing costs and extended maturities.

The combined unsecured credit facilities have an accordion feature enabling the Company to increase the total borrowing capacity under the credit facilities up to an aggregate of $1 billion, subject to certain conditions. The amended revolving credit facility matures in August 2025 and has two, six-month extension options, subject to certain conditions, the amended $100 million term loan matures in August 2026, and the new $200 million term loan matures in February 2027. Amounts outstanding under the revolving facility bear interest at LIBOR plus a margin between 135 to 190 basis points with no LIBOR floor (previously set at 145 to 200 basis points with a LIBOR floor of 30 basis points) and amounts outstanding under the term facilities bear interest at LIBOR plus a margin between 130 and 185 basis points, in either case depending on the Company’s leverage.

Jeff Witherell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Plymouth Industrial REIT, noted, “With the support and commitment from our expanded bank group, we have continued to match the scale of our growing platform with unsecured borrowing capacity at lower rates and well-laddered maturities. This credit facility provides us with significant flexibility and efficiency within our capital structure to fund our growth.”

KeyBanc Capital Markets and CapOne National Association, as Joint Lead Arrangers, arranged the new $200 million term loan. Syndicate lenders included BMO Harris Bank N.A, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Truist Bank and Huntington National Bank. KeyBanc Capital Markets arranged the amended revolving facility and amended term loan. Syndicate lenders included Barclays Bank PLC, CapOne National association JPMorgan Chase Bank, and BMO Harris Bank N.A. KeyBank National Association serves as administrative agent for the credit facility.

About Plymouth

Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) is a real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties, including distribution centers, warehouses, light industrial and small bay industrial properties, located in primary and secondary markets within the main industrial, distribution and logistics corridors of the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release, which are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding management’s plans, objectives and strategies, constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statement, many of which may be beyond our control, including, without limitation, those factors described under the captions “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “plan,” “seek,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005343/en/

Tripp Sullivan

SCR Partners

(615) 942-7077

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Commercial Building & Real Estate Construction & Property REIT

MEDIA:

Logo

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Builders FirstSource Completes Acquisition of WTS Paradigm, LLC

DALLAS, Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Builders FirstSource, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDR) (“Builders FirstSource” or the “Company”), today announced that it has closed on its previously announced acquisition of WTS Paradigm, LLC (“Paradigm”), a software solutions and services provider for the building products industry. Paradigm, which will operate as an independent business of Builders FirstSource, provides the Company with a digital platform to advance its strategy to deliver technology solutions that help its customers build more efficiently.

“We are excited to welcome Paradigm’s employees into the Builders FirstSource family and enhance our digital capabilities,” said Dave Flitman, President and CEO of Builders FirstSource. “Paradigm’s unmatched technology will help us provide our customers with solutions that address many of the inefficiencies throughout the home building process and reduce costs along the way. Furthermore, our acquisition of Paradigm puts us in a strong position to capitalize on the significant market opportunity in digital, which we anticipate will lead to $1 billion of incremental sales over the next five years.”

Paradigm specializes in software development and consulting services that help manufacturers, retailers and homebuilders in the building products industry boost sales, reduce costs and become more efficient. Paradigm offers its customers a simplified process for configuring, estimating and manufacturing complex products with many options, such as windows and doors. Builders FirstSource plans to continue to invest in the core Paradigm Omni™ configuration technology, which also powers a newer product: Paradigm Omni™ for Homebuilders, a virtual design technology that reduces friction and improves efficiency.

About Builders FirstSource

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Builders FirstSource is the largest U.S. supplier of building products, prefabricated components and value-added services to the professional market segment for new residential construction and repair and remodeling. We provide customers an integrated homebuilding solution, offering manufacturing, supply, delivery and installation of a full range of structural and related building products. We operate in 39 states with approximately 550 locations and service customers in 84 of the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, providing geographic diversity and balanced end market exposure. We service customers from strategically located distribution and manufacturing facilities (certain of which are co-located) that produce value-added products such as roof and floor trusses, wall panels, stairs, vinyl windows, custom millwork and pre-hung doors. Builders FirstSource also distributes dimensional lumber and lumber sheet goods, millwork, windows, interior and exterior doors, and other building products. For more information about Builders FirstSource, visit the Company’s website at www.bldr.com.

About Paradigm

Paradigm was founded in 1999 in Wisconsin and has over 250 customers with over 70,000 end users. The company employs over 300 people globally. Paradigm is transforming the way that residential construction business is done across the country. Paradigm’s technology platform is the largest of its kind in the world, serving customers in both new construction and renovation markets by increasing sales and operational efficiencies. For more information about Paradigm, visit the Company’s website at www.myparadigm.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this news release and the schedules hereto that are not purely historical facts or that necessarily depend upon future events, including statements about expected market share gains, forecasted financial performance or other statements about anticipations, beliefs, expectations, hopes, synergies, intentions or strategies for the future, may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. In addition, oral statements made by our directors, officers and employees to the investor and analyst communities, media representatives and others, depending upon their nature, may also constitute forward-looking statements. As with the forward-looking statements included in this release, these forward-looking statements are by nature inherently uncertain, and actual results may differ materially as a result of many factors. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to Builders FirstSource, Inc. on the date this release was submitted. Builders FirstSource, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in the forward-looking statements, including risks or uncertainties related to the recent novel coronavirus disease 2019 (also known as “COVID-19”) pandemic, the Company’s merger with BMC and other acquisitions, the Company’s growth strategies or the Company’s revenues and operating results being highly dependent on, among other things, the homebuilding industry, lumber prices and the economy. Builders FirstSource, Inc. may not succeed in addressing these and other risks. Further information regarding factors that could affect our financial and other results can be found in the risk factors section of Builders FirstSource, Inc.’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and in the other reports filed by the Company with the SEC. Consequently, all forward-looking statements in this release are qualified by the factors, risks and uncertainties contained therein.

Investor Contact

Michael Neese
SVP, Investor Relations
Builders FirstSource, Inc.
(214) 765-3804

Media Contact

ICR for Builders FirstSource
[email protected]

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Sonder Holdings Inc. to Expand Middle East Presence with Two New High-Rise Towers in Downtown Dubai

Sonder Holdings Inc. to Expand Middle East Presence with Two New High-Rise Towers in Downtown Dubai

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Sonder Holdings Inc. (“Sonder”), a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design, will add two additional buildings to its growing portfolio in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Through an agreement with Al Fattan Properties LLC, Sonder will manage and operate two of the three Al Fattan Towers in Downtown, with views on Burj Khalifa, to be operated as Sonder Downtown Towers.

Comprising spacious two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging between 1,900 and 2,400 square feet, these towers add over 300 units to Sonder’s existing portfolio of operations in Dubai. The company currently manages and operates JBR Suites, a 164-unit property in Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) which has been open to guests for over a year. Sonder is also exploring additional expansion into the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, La Mer, City Walk and DIFC areas of Dubai.

“We’re pleased to continue to partner with Sonder, whose innovative and guest-centric approach to hospitality addresses the preferences of the modern, urban, family and business travelers that frequents Dubai,” said Soby Joseph, executive director of Al Fattan Properties LLC. “Sonder is a well-capitalized operator that provides peace of mind and fixed income for real estate assets. They continue to be one of our preferred partners for developments in Dubai.”

“We remain bullish on expansion in Dubai as it is one of the most visited cities in the world, renowned for its beautiful design and architecture and is a global real estate hub. These are all attributes that fit perfectly with the Sonder brand and mission and we plan to continue developing Sonder’s footprint in the region,” said Martin Picard, Global Head of Real Estate for Sonder. “We’ve seen very strong performance from our inaugural Dubai property, JBR Suites. We are extremely pleased to be partnering again with Al Fattan to take on operations of what will be Sonder’s fourth largest signing in terms of units.

In order to support the company’s expansion in the region, Sonder also recently appointed Rishad Poonawalla to the newly-created role of director of real estate in Dubai. Rishad brings over 15 years of global real estate and hospitality development and acquisition experience to Sonder, with time previously spent in Dubai with the Jumeirah Group, Whitbread Plc (Premier Inn Hotels), as well as Ernst & Young’s Transaction Real Estate & Hospitality practice.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Sonder is present in 35+ cities in nine countries, with approximately 15,000 live and contracted units worldwide. The company partners with real estate owners and landlords to lease hotel and apartment buildings and design, manage and operate them. Sonder distinguishes itself in the hospitality industry through forward thinking design and by infusing technology into its guest experience. This tech-enabled experience puts guests in full control of their stay. They can access everything they need – from booking, to interacting with guest services, to check-out – via their own mobile device from anywhere and at any time, using the Sonder app.

All Sonder spaces in Dubai are equipped with a full in-unit kitchen and balcony, as well as access to a fully-equipped gym, large pool and laundry services. The Sonder Downtown Towers are slated to open to guests later this year.

This announcement follows the recent news of Sonder’s plans to be publicly listed through a business combination with Gores Metropoulos II (Nasdaq: GMIIU, GMII and GMIIW).

To explore Sonder real estate partnership opportunities, please contact [email protected].

About Sonder

Sonder is revolutionizing hospitality through innovative, tech-powered service and inspiring, thoughtfully designed accommodations combined into one seamlessly managed experience. Officially launched in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, Sonder is making a world of better stays open to all with a variety of accommodation options — from rooms to suites and apartments — found in 35+ cities spanning nine countries and three continents. Sonder’s innovative app empowers guests by making self-service features and 24/7 on-the-ground support just a tap away. From simple self check-in to boutique bathroom amenities, we bring the best of a hotel without any of the formality.

To learn more, visit www.sonder.com or follow Sonder on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Download the Sonder app on Apple or Google Play.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Additional information about the proposed business combination between Sonder and Gores Metropoulos II, Inc. (“GMII”), including a copy of the Merger Agreement provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by GMII with the SEC on April 30, 2021, and a copy of an updated investor presentation provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by GMII with the SEC on July 7, 2021, is available at www.sec.gov. In connection with the proposed business combination, GMII has filed a registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) that includes a preliminary proxy statement, prospectus and consent solicitation statement with respect to GMII’s securities to be issued in connection with the proposed business combination. The Registration Statement is not yet effective. The Registration Statement, including the proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement contained therein, when it is declared effective by the SEC, will contain important information about the proposed business combination and the other matters to be voted upon at a meeting of GMII’s stockholders to be held to approve the proposed business combination and other matters (the “Special Meeting”) and is not intended to provide the basis for any investment decision or any other decision in respect of such matters. GMII may also file other documents regarding the proposed business combination with the SEC. GMII stockholders and other interested persons are advised to read, when available, the Registration Statement and the proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement, as well as any amendments or supplements thereto, because they will contain important information about the proposed business combination.

When available, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement will be mailed to GMII stockholders as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination and the other matters to be voted upon at the Special Meeting. GMII investors and securityholders will also be able to obtain copies of the definitive proxy statement/prospectus/ consent solicitation statement, without charge, once available, at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: 6260 Lookout Road, Boulder, CO 80301, attention: Jennifer Kwon Chou, or by contacting Morrow Sodali LLC, GMII’s proxy solicitor, for help, toll-free at (800) 662-5200 (banks and brokers can call collect at (203) 658-9400).

Participants in Solicitation

GMII, Sonder and their respective directors and officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of GMII stockholders in connection with the proposed business combination. GMII stockholders and other interested persons may obtain, without charge, more detailed information regarding the interests of those persons and other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed business combination by reading GMII’s registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-251663), which was declared effective by the SEC on January 19, 2021, and the proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement regarding the proposed business combination.

You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about Sonder’s forecasted revenue growth (including Sonder’s outlook for Total Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA for the year ended December 31, 2021), Sonder’s growth in total unit portfolio (including Sonder’s forecast for growth in Total Portfolio for the year ended December 31, 2021), information concerning GMII’s or Sonder’s possible or assumed future financial or operating results and metrics, business strategies, debt levels, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, future operations, products and services, planned openings, expected unit contractings and the effects of regulation, including whether the proposed business combination will generate returns for stockholders. These forward-looking statements are based on GMII’s or Sonder’s management’s current expectations, estimates, projections and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside GMII’s or Sonder’s management’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors include, but are not limited to: (a) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement and the proposed business combination contemplated thereby; (b) the inability to complete the proposed business combination due to the failure to obtain approval of the stockholders of GMII or other conditions to closing in the Merger Agreement; (c) the ability to meet Nasdaq’s listing standards following the consummation of the proposed business combination; (d) the inability to complete the PIPE; (e) the risk that the proposed business combination disrupts current plans and operations of Sonder or its subsidiaries as a result of the announcement and consummation of the transactions described herein; (f) the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of the combined company to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain its management and key employees; (g) costs related to the proposed business combination; (h) changes in applicable laws or regulations, including legal or regulatory developments (such as the SEC’s statement on accounting and reporting considerations for warrants in special purpose acquisition companies); (i) the possibility that Sonder may be adversely affected by other economic, business and/or competitive factors; (j) risks related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Delta variant and potential governmental and other restrictions (including travel restrictions) resulting therefrom; and (k) other risks and uncertainties described in the final proxy statement/prospectus/consent solicitation statement, including those under the heading “Risk Factors” therein, and other documents filed by GMII from time to time with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, neither GMII nor Sonder undertakes any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in GMII’s reports filed and to be filed with the SEC and available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication relates to a proposed business combination between GMII and Sonder. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or exchange, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or exchange, any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, sale or exchange would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005332/en/

Kate Cory

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Residential Building & Real Estate Lodging Commercial Building & Real Estate Construction & Property Travel

MEDIA:

Logo

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Molina Healthcare Awarded Nevada Medicaid Contract

Molina Healthcare Awarded Nevada Medicaid Contract

LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: MOH) (“Molina”) today announced its Nevada health plan subsidiary was awarded a Medicaid managed care contract from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services – Division of Health Care Financing and Policy (“DHCFP”).

The new four-year Medicaid contract, with a potential two-year extension, will commence on January 1, 2022. Molina’s Nevada health plan is one of four Managed Care Organizations offering health care coverage to approximately 630,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Clark County (Las Vegas area) and Washoe County (Reno area) through the TANF, CHIP, and Medicaid Expansion programs. Molina will also participate in the state-based Affordable Care Act Exchange.

“We are honored that Nevada has awarded Molina the opportunity to serve the state’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Joe Zubretsky, president and chief executive officer of Molina Healthcare. “Molina looks forward to advancing the state’s goals of improving care management, member access, and overall health equity for its Medicaid members.”

About Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare, Inc., a FORTUNE 500 company, provides managed healthcare services under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. Through its locally operated health plans, Molina Healthcare served approximately 4.7 million members as of June 30, 2021. For more information about Molina Healthcare, please visit molinahealthcare.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” regarding the provisional award of a Medicaid managed care contract to Molina’s Nevada health plan by Nevada DHCFP. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company’s current expectations that are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks include, without limitation, the failure to receive approval by the Nevada State Board of Examiners, changes incidental to a successful protest or legal action, a delay in the start date for the contract, or other supervening action by Nevada or a court. Given these risks and uncertainties, Molina cannot give assurances that its forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. All forward-looking statements in this release represent the Company’s judgment as of the date hereof, and it disclaims any obligation to update any forward‑looking statements to conform the statement to changes in its expectations that occur after the date of this release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005229/en/

Investor Contact: Ronald Kurtz, [email protected],562-912-6820

Media Contact: Caroline Zubieta, [email protected], 562-951-1588

KEYWORDS: United States North America Nevada

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Professional Services Health Hospitals Insurance Practice Management Managed Care

MEDIA:

Logo

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
Viant Reports 200 Percent Conversion Increase From ‘World Without Cookies’ Software Private Beta Program

Viant Reports 200 Percent Conversion Increase From ‘World Without Cookies’ Software Private Beta Program

Company Expands Program into Open Beta Phase

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: DSP), a leading people-based advertising software company, today announced customers who participated in the company’s private beta release testing program drove 200% more conversions. The World Without Cookies (WWC) beta program, which integrates Viant’s Household ID within its Adelphic^® advertising software, is expanding into the open beta phase and is now available for all customers to test.

The open beta phase marks the next step from Viant’s private beta-testing program, which was launched in June and provided early access to the new digital experience across Adelphic. During the private period, participating brands and agencies not only saw over a 200% average increase in new customer acquisitions, but they also reached 40% more households and decreased frequency and ad repetition by 28%.

“Marketers are struggling to measure brand effectiveness, especially in channels like Connected TV, streaming audio, and mobile phones where cookies don’t exist or only exist a small percentage of the time,” said Chris Vanderhook, Chief Operations Officer, Viant. “We believe WWC solves for these important, emerging needs, empowering brands and agencies to reach more customers and drive better performance of their omnichannel campaigns while also providing a better consumer experience.”

Advantages of the WWC program include:

Onboarding First-Party Data—Access to more ways clients can utilize their first-party data, including directly onboarding physical addresses. (Already available onboarding options include customer e-mail addresses and other digital identifiers.)

User Experience—Unifying Viant’s Household ID throughout the software allows for enhanced control of planning, buying, and measuring omnichannel campaigns.

Scale— With Viant’s Household ID available across nearly 80% of all available ad opportunities managed within the software, marketers can immediately reach more than 115 million addressable U.S. households that make up more than 250 million addressable consumers in cookieless environments.

Measurement — Capture measurement of cross-platform reach and frequency in real-time, enabling advertisers to adjust course and link impact to actual business outcomes.

About Viant

Viant^® is a leading people-based advertising software company that enables marketers and their agencies to centralize the planning, buying and measurement of their advertising investments across most channels. Viant’s self-service Demand Side Platform (DSP), Adelphic®, is an enterprise software platform enabling marketers to execute programmatic advertising campaigns across Connected TV, Linear TV, mobile, desktop, audio and digital out-of-home channels. Viant’s Identity Resolution capabilities have linked 115 million U.S. households to more than 1 billion connected devices and is combined with access to more than 280,000 audience attributes from more than 70 people-based data partners. Viant is an Ad Age 2021 Best Places to Work award winner and the Adelphic DSP is featured on AdExchanger’s 2021 Programmatic Power Players list. To learn more, visit viantinc.com and adelphic.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005249/en/

Media Contact:

Karen Castillo-Paff

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Mobile/Wireless Security Other Technology Advertising Communications Software Internet Data Management

MEDIA:

Logo

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
GDS Holdings Limited Reports Second Quarter 2021 Results

SHANGHAI, China, Aug. 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GDS Holdings Limited (“GDS Holdings”, “GDS” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698), a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

Second Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights

Net revenue increased by 38.9% year-over-year (“Y-o-Y”) to RMB1,863.9 million (US$288.7 million) in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q2020: RMB1,342.2 million).

Service revenue increased by 39.6% Y-o-Y to RMB1,863.0 million (US$288.5 million) in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q2020: RMB1,334.5 million).

Net loss was RMB298.5 million (US$46.2 million) in the second quarter of 2021, compared with a net loss of RMB101.0 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) increased by 41.4% Y-o-Y to RMB895.9 million (US$138.8 million) in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q2020: RMB633.4 million). See “Non-GAAP Disclosure” and “Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results” elsewhere in this earnings release.

Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) increased to 48.1% in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q2020: 47.2%).

Operating Highlights

Total area committed and pre-committed by customers increased by 44,848 square meters (“sqm”) in the second quarter of 2021 to 470,125 sqm as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 41.0% Y-o-Y (June 30, 2020: 333,461 sqm).

Area in service increased by 61,351 sqm in the second quarter of 2021 to 393,885 sqm as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 47.9% Y-o-Y (June 30, 2020: 266,260 sqm).

Commitment rate for area in service was 95.9% as of June 30, 2021 (June 30, 2020: 94.1%).

Area under construction was 161,287 sqm as of June 30, 2021 (June 30, 2020: 133,208 sqm).

Pre-commitment rate for area under construction was 57.2% as of June 30, 2021 (June 30, 2020: 62.3%).

Area utilized by customers increased by 29,371 sqm in the second quarter of 2021 to 271,735 sqm as of June 30, 2021, an increase of 40.7% Y-o-Y (June 30, 2020: 193,162 sqm).

Utilization rate for area in service was 69.0% as of June 30, 2021 (June 30, 2020: 72.5%).

“We are pleased to report another quarter of solid business performance,” said Mr. William Huang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “During the second quarter, we added net additional area committed of over 44,000 sqm, including over 25,000 sqm of organic sales, maintaining our run rate. We are delighted to win several first-time orders with new strategic hyperscale customers to further strengthen and diversify our customer base. On the resource side, we continued to scale up our supply by adding new capacity in Tier 1 markets which is always a key to success. Additionally, we took the first step in our regionalization plan to expand our platform to South East Asia, laying the groundwork for capturing incremental growth opportunities in one of the world’s fastest developing digital regions.”

“We maintained our strong financial performance in the second quarter of 2021,” commented Mr. Dan Newman, Chief Financial Officer. “Our revenue grew by 38.9% and adjusted EBITDA grew by 41.4% compared to a year ago. Our adjusted EBITDA margin hit 48.1% in the quarter. In addition, we successfully obtained debt financing and refinancing facilities of RMB 4.7 billion to maintain our robust financial position.”

Second Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Net revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB1,863.9 million (US$288.7 million), a 38.9% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB1,342.2 million and a 9.3% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB1,706.0 million. Service revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB1,863.0 million (US$288.5 million), a 39.6% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB1,334.5 million and a 9.3% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB1,704.5 million. The increase over the previous quarter was mainly due to full quarter revenue contribution from additional area utilized in the previous quarter and the contribution from 29,371 sqm of net additional area utilized in the second quarter of 2021, mainly related to the Shanghai 10 (“SH10”), Shanghai 14 (“SH14”) Phase 1, Langfang 6 (“LF6”), and Chengdu 2 (“CD2”) Phase 1 data centers and to the Beijing 15 (“BJ15”) data center acquired during the quarter. Revenue from IT equipment sales was RMB968 thousands (US$150 thousands), compared with RMB7.7 million in the second quarter of 2020 and RMB1.5 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Cost of revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB1,424.1 million (US$220.6 million), a 45.1% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB981.1 million and an 8.8% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB1,309.1 million. The increase over the previous quarter was mainly due to an increase in power consumption as a result of higher area utilized, and an increase in depreciation and amortization costs related to full quarter contribution from new data centers coming into service in the previous quarter, as well as new data centers coming into service in the second quarter of 2021, namely Shanghai 12 (“SH12”), Shanghai 17 (“SH17”) Phase 1, Langfang 3 (“LF3”), Langfang 9 (“LF9”), and Langfang 10 (“LF10”) and from the BJ15 data center acquired during the quarter.

Gross profit was RMB439.9 million (US$68.1 million) in the second quarter of 2021, a 21.8% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB361.1 million, and a 10.8% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB396.9 million. Gross profit margin was 23.6% in the second quarter of 2021, compared with 26.9% in the second quarter of 2020, and 23.3% in the first quarter of 2021.

Adjusted Gross Profit¹ (“Adjusted GP”) (non-GAAP) is defined as gross profit excluding depreciation and amortization, operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights, accretion expenses for asset retirement costs and share-based compensation expenses allocated to cost of revenue. Adjusted GP was RMB1,006.9 million (US$155.9 million) in the second quarter of 2021, a 39.6% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB721.0 million and an 8.5% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB928.0 million. See “Non-GAAP Disclosure” and “Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results” elsewhere in this earnings release.

Adjusted GP margin (non-GAAP) was 54.0% in the second quarter of 2021, compared with 53.7% in the second quarter of 2020, and 54.4% in the first quarter of 2021. The decrease over the previous quarter was mainly due to seasonally higher power consumption in the second quarter of the year.

Selling and marketing expenses, excluding share-based compensation expenses of RMB14.7 million (US$2.3 million), were RMB21.7 million (US$3.4 million) in the second quarter of 2021, a 28.8% increase from the second quarter of 2020 of RMB16.9 million (excluding share-based compensation of RMB12.9 million) and a 6.7% increase from the first quarter of 2021 of RMB20.4 million (excluding share-based compensation of RMB15.3 million). The increase over the previous quarter was primarily due to an increase in sales and marketing activities in the second quarter of the year.

General and administrative expenses, excluding share-based compensation expenses of RMB55.8 million (US$8.6 million), depreciation and amortization expenses of RMB82.1 million (US$12.7 million) and operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights of RMB8.6 million (US$1.3 million), were RMB101.3 million (US$15.7 million) in the second quarter of 2021, a 47.4% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB68.7 million (excluding share-based compensation expenses of RMB35.6 million, depreciation and amortization expenses of RMB47.6 million and operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights of RMB4.7 million) and a 0.3% increase from the first quarter of 2021 of RMB101.1 million (excluding share-based compensation of RMB59.7 million, depreciation and amortization expenses of RMB62.1 million, and operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights of RMB8.2 million).

Research and development costs were RMB8.6 million (US$1.3 million) in the second quarter of 2021, compared with RMB10.2 million in the second quarter 2020 and RMB9.3 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Net interest expenses for the second quarter of 2021 were RMB411.7 million (US$63.8 million), a 36.9% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB300.6 million and a 15.1% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB357.7 million. The increase over the previous quarter was mainly due to higher total gross debt balance to finance data center capacity expansion, and a higher level of non-recurring financing costs related to debt refinancing activities.

Foreign currency exchange loss for the second quarter of 2021 was RMB981 thousands (US$152 thousands), compared with a loss of RMB4.6 million in the second quarter of 2020 and a gain of RMB1.2 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Others, net for the second quarter of 2021 was RMB18.5 million (US$2.9 million), compared with RMB11.0 million in the second quarter of 2020 and RMB16.3 million in the first quarter of 2021. The increase over the previous quarter is primarily due to a higher level of government grants during the quarter.

Net loss in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB298.5 million (US$46.2 million), compared with a net loss of RMB101.0 million in the second quarter of 2020 and a net loss of RMB278.7 million in the first quarter of 2021.

Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) is defined as net loss excluding net interest expenses, income tax expenses (benefits), depreciation and amortization, operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights, accretion expenses for asset retirement costs, share-based compensation expenses and gain from purchase price adjustment. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB895.9 million (US$138.8 million) in the second quarter of 2021, a 41.4% increase over the second quarter of 2020 of RMB633.4 million and a 9.5% increase over the first quarter of 2021 of RMB817.9 million.

Adjusted EBITDA margin (non-GAAP) was 48.1% in the second quarter of 2021, compared with 47.2% in the second quarter of 2020, and 47.9% in the first quarter of 2021. The increase over the previous quarter was mainly due to the operating leverage effect realized on the corporate expenses and a higher level of government grants received resulting in an increase in others, net, partially offset by seasonally higher power consumption.

Basic and diluted loss per ordinary share in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB0.22 (US$0.03), compared with RMB0.10 in the second quarter of 2020, and RMB0.21 in the first quarter of 2021.

Basic and diluted loss per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) in the second quarter of 2021 was RMB1.79 (US$0.28), compared with RMB0.77 in the second quarter of 2020, and RMB1.66 in the first quarter of 2021. Each ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.

Sales

Total area committed and pre-committed at the end of the second quarter of 2021 was 470,125 sqm, compared with 333,461 sqm at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 425,277 sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 41.0% Y-o-Y and 10.5% quarter-over-quarter (“Q-o-Q”), respectively. In the second quarter of 2021, net additional total area committed was 44,848 sqm, including significant contributions from the Changshu 2 (“CS2”), Langfang 13 (“LF13”), and Beijing 16 (“BJ16”) data centers and from the BJ15 data center acquired during the quarter.

Data Center Resources

Area in service at the end of the second quarter of 2021 was 393,885 sqm, compared with 266,260 sqm at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 332,534 sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 47.9% Y-o-Y and 18.4% Q-o-Q. In the second quarter of 2021, SH12, SH17 Phase 1, LF3, LF9, LF10 and BJ15 (through acquisition) data centers came into service.

Area under construction at the end of the second quarter of 2021 was 161,287 sqm, compared with 133,208 sqm at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 161,611 sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 21.1% Y-o-Y and a decrease of 0.2% Q-o-Q, respectively. In the second quarter of 2021, construction commenced on the SH17 Phase 2, CS2, Shenzhen 8 (“SZ8”), BJ16 and Tianjin 1 (“TJ1”) data centers.

SH17 Phase 2 is the second phase of the SH17 data center on the Pujiang Site in the Minhang District of Shanghai which the Company acquired during early 2020. SH17 Phase 2 will yield a net floor area of 6,188 sqm and is expected to come into service in the second half of 2021.

CS2 is the second data center under development at a site in Changshu, Jiangsu Province which the Company previously acquired from the local government (namely Changshu Land Site 1). CS2 will yield a net floor area of 11,464 sqm and has been 100% pre-committed by a new hyperscale customer. CS2 is expected to come into service in three phases, with the first two phases comprising a net floor area of 5,732 sqm in aggregate to be delivered in the second half of 2021, and the third phase comprising a net floor area of 5,732 sqm to be delivered in the first half of 2023.

SZ8 is the data center in the Bao’an District of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, which the Company acquired during the second quarter of 2021. SZ8 will yield a net floor area of 2,494 sqm and is expected to come into service in the second half of 2021.

BJ16 is the data center on the same site as BJ15 which the Company acquired in the second quarter of 2021. BJ16 is an expansion opportunity initiated by GDS and is currently under construction. BJ16 will yield a net floor area of 8,569 sqm and has been 87.7% pre-committed by a new hyperscale customer. BJ16 is expected to come into service in the second half of 2021.

TJ1 is the data center in the Wuqing District of Tianjin which the Company acquired in the second quarter of 2021 by taking a 65% equity interest in the target company that owns it. TJ1 will yield a net floor area of 13,968 sqm and is expected to come into service in two phases, with the first phase comprising a net floor area of 6,984 sqm to be delivered in the second half of 2021 and the second phase comprising a net floor area of 6,984 sqm in the first half of 2022.

Commitment rate for area in service was 95.9% at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with 94.1% at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 94.6% at the end of the first quarter 2021. Pre-commitment rate for area under construction was 57.2% at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with 62.3% at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 68.4% at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Area utilized at the end of the second quarter of 2021 was 271,735 sqm, compared with 193,162 sqm at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 242,364 sqm at the end of the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 40.7% Y-o-Y and 12.1% Q-o-Q. Net additional area utilized was 29,371 sqm in the second quarter of 2021, which mainly came from additional area utilized in the SH10, SH14 Phase 1, LF6, and CD2 Phase 1 data centers, and in the BJ15 data center acquired during the quarter.

Utilization rate for area in service was 69.0% at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with 72.5% at the end of the second quarter of 2020 and 72.9% at the end of the first quarter of 2021.

During the second quarter, the Company completed the previously announced acquisitions of the BJ15 and SZ8 data centers and of a 65% equity interest in a target company which owns the TJ1 data center.

During the second quarter, as previously announced, the Company entered into equity purchase agreements to acquire a 100% equity interest in target companies which own a greenfield site in Taicang, Jiangsu Province. The site has a land area of approximately 59,000 sqm and, once fully developed, will yield a net floor area of approximately 50,400 sqm according to the initial design.

Liquidity

As of June 30, 2021, cash was RMB12,326.9 million (US$1,909.2 million). Total short-term debt was RMB2,669.2 million (US$413.4 million), comprised of short-term borrowings and the current portion of long-term borrowings of RMB2,341.0 million (US$362.6 million) and the current portion of finance lease and other financing obligations of RMB328.1 million (US$50.8 million). Total long-term debt was RMB24,974.4 million (US$3,868.0 million), comprised of long-term borrowings (excluding current portion) of RMB14,866.7 million (US$2,302.6 million), convertible bonds of RMB1,915.1 million (US$296.6 million) and the non-current portion of finance lease and other financing obligations of RMB8,192.6 million (US$1,268.9 million). During the second quarter of 2021, the Company obtained new debt financing and re-financing facilities of RMB4,705.6 million (US$728.8 million).

Recent Developments

Nusajaya Site, Johor, Malaysia

As previously announced, the Company recently entered into a definitive agreement with a third party to acquire a greenfield site in the Nusajaya Tech Park, Johor, Malaysia, immediately adjacent to Singapore. The Company intends to develop the site into a data center campus comprising a total net floor area of approximately 22,500 sqm, or 54 MW of total IT power capacity, according to the initial design. The first phase of the development, with an IT power capacity of 18 MW, is expected to be delivered in 2024.

New Acquisition – Beijing 17, Beijing 18 and Beijing 19

The Company recently completed the acquisition of a 100% equity interest in a target company which owns a major data center site in Beijing. The site is being developed into three data centers, with total net floor area of approximately 10,700 sqm. The first two data centers, Beijing 17 (“BJ17”) and Beijing 18 (“BJ18”), are already in service, with an aggregate net floor area of approximately 3,700 sqm. BJ17 and BJ18 are 100% committed to a new hyperscale customer, with over 50% current utilization rate. Beijing 19 (“BJ19”), the third and final data center on the same site, is under construction. On completion, it will yield a net floor area of approximately 7,000 sqm, according to the initial design. BJ19 is expected to come into service in the second half of 2022.

New Market – Macau

The Company recently signed an agreement to form a joint venture (“JV”) with a local partner to acquire a brownfield site in Macau for re-development into a data center, with GDS owning 80% of the JV. The site is located opposite to the Zhuhai Hengqin Free Trade Zone. Once developed, the site will yield a net floor area of approximately 7,600 sqm, according to the initial design.

Hong Kong 4 Data Center

The Company recently entered into a definitive agreement to acquire an existing industrial building located in Kwai Chung, Hong Kong, for re-development into a data center, Hong Kong 4 (“HK4”). The building is located close to our Hong Kong 1 and Hong Kong 2 data centers, forming a cluster in the Kwai Chung area. HK4 will yield a net floor area of approximately 7,200 sqm according to the initial design. HK4 is expected to be delivered in 2025.

Business Outlook

The Company confirms that the previously provided guidance for total revenues of RMB7,700 – RMB8,000 million, adjusted EBITDA of RMB3,660 – RMB3,800 million and capex of around RMB12,000 million for the year of 2021 remain unchanged.

This forecast reflects the Company’s preliminary view on the current business situation and market conditions, which are subject to change.

Conference Call

Management will hold a conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on August 17, 2021 (8:00 p.m. Beijing Time on the same day) to discuss financial results and answer questions from investors and analysts. Listeners may access the call by dialing:

United States: +1-845-675-0437

International: +65-6713-5090

Hong Kong: +852-3018-6771

Mainland China: 400-620-8038

Conference ID: 8269683

Participants should dial in at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start time and provide the Conference ID to the Operator to be connected to the conference. Due to conditions surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19, participants may experience longer than normal hold period before being assisted to join the call. The Company thanks everyone in advance for their patience and understanding.

A telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the call until August 25, 2021 09:59 AM U.S. ET by dialing:

United States: +1-646-254-3697

International:
Hong Kong:
Mainland China: +61-2-8199-0299
+852-3051-2780
400-632-2162

Replay Access Code: 8269683

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at investors.gds-services.com.

Non-GAAP Disclosure

Our management and board of directors use adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted GP and adjusted GP margin, which are non-GAAP financial measures, to evaluate our operating performance, establish budgets and develop operational goals for managing our business. We believe that the exclusion of the income and expenses eliminated in calculating adjusted EBITDA and adjusted GP can provide useful and supplemental measures of our core operating performance. In particular, we believe that the use of adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental performance measure captures the trend in our operating performance by excluding from our operating results the impact of our capital structure (primarily interest expense), asset base charges (primarily depreciation and amortization, operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights and accretion expenses for asset retirement costs), other non-cash expenses (primarily share-based compensation expenses), and other income and expenses which we believe are not reflective of our operating performance, whereas the use of adjusted gross profit as a supplemental performance measure captures the trend in gross profit performance of our data centers in service by excluding from our gross profit the impact of asset base charges (primarily depreciation and amortization, operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights and accretion expenses for asset retirement costs) and other non-cash expenses (primarily share-based compensation expenses) included in cost of revenue.

We note that depreciation and amortization is a fixed cost which commences as soon as each data center enters service. However, it usually takes several years for new data centers to reach high levels of utilization and profitability. The Company incurs significant depreciation and amortization costs for its early stage data center assets. Accordingly, gross profit, which is a measure of profitability after taking into account depreciation and amortization, does not accurately reflect the Company’s core operating performance.

We also present these non-GAAP measures because we believe these non-GAAP measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as measures of the financial performance of companies in our industry.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, cash flows or our liquidity, investors should not consider them in isolation, or as a substitute for gross profit, net income (loss), cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities or other consolidated statements of operations and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. There are a number of limitations related to the use of these non-GAAP financial measures instead of their nearest GAAP equivalent. First, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted GP, and adjusted GP margin are not substitutes for gross profit, net income (loss), cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities or other consolidated statements of operation and cash flow data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Second, other companies may calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of these non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. Finally, these non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect the impact of net interest expenses, incomes tax benefits (expenses), depreciation and amortization, operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights, accretion expenses for asset retirement costs, share-based compensation expenses and gain from purchase price adjustment, each of which have been and may continue to be incurred in our business.

We mitigate these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measure to the most comparable U.S. GAAP performance measure, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance.

For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned “Reconciliations of GAAP and non-GAAP results” set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars (“USD”) at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to USD were made at the rate of RMB 6.4566 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on June 30, 2021 in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or USD amounts referred could be converted into USD or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Statement Regarding Preliminary Unaudited Financial Information

The unaudited financial information set out in this earnings release is preliminary and subject to potential adjustments. Adjustments to the consolidated financial statements may be identified when audit work has been performed for the Company’s year-end audit, which could result in significant differences from this preliminary unaudited financial information.

About GDS Holdings Limited

GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698) is a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China. The Company’s facilities are strategically located in China’s primary economic hubs where demand for high-performance data center services is concentrated. The Company also builds, operates and transfers data centers at other locations selected by its customers in order to fulfill their broader requirements. The Company’s data centers have large net floor area, high power capacity, density and efficiency, and multiple redundancies across all critical systems. GDS is carrier and cloud-neutral, which enables its customers to access all the major PRC telecommunications networks, as well as the largest PRC and global public clouds which are hosted in many of its facilities. The Company offers co-location and managed services, including direct private connection to leading public clouds, an innovative service platform for managing hybrid clouds and, where required, the resale of public cloud services. The Company has a 20-year track record of service delivery, successfully fulfilling the requirements of some of the largest and most demanding customers for outsourced data center services in China. The Company’s customer base consists predominantly of hyperscale cloud service providers, large internet companies, financial institutions, telecommunications carriers, IT service providers, and large domestic private sector and multinational corporations.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “future,” “guidance,” “intend,” “is/are likely to,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “target,” “will,” and similar statements. Among other things, statements that are not historical facts, including statements about GDS Holdings’ beliefs and expectations regarding the growth of its businesses and its revenue for the full fiscal year, the business outlook and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as GDS Holdings’ strategic and operational plans, are or contain forward-looking statements. GDS Holdings may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on Forms 20-F and 6-K, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause GDS Holdings’ actual results or financial performance to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: GDS Holdings’ goals and strategies; GDS Holdings’ future business development, financial condition and results of operations; the expected growth of the market for high-performance data centers, data center solutions and related services in China; GDS Holdings’ expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of its high-performance data centers, data center solutions and related services; GDS Holdings’ expectations regarding building, strengthening and maintaining its relationships with new and existing customers; the continued adoption of cloud computing and cloud service providers in China; risks and uncertainties associated with increased investments in GDS Holdings’ business and new data center initiatives; risks and uncertainties associated with strategic acquisitions and investments; GDS Holdings’ ability to maintain or grow its revenue or business; fluctuations in GDS Holdings’ operating results; changes in laws, regulations and regulatory environment that affect GDS Holdings’ business operations; competition in GDS Holdings’ industry in China; security breaches; power outages; and fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in China and globally, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the GDS Holdings’ filings with the SEC, including its annual report on form 20-F. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release and are based on assumptions that GDS Holdings believes to be reasonable as of such date, and GDS Holdings does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

GDS Holdings Limited

Laura Chen
Phone: +86 (21) 5176-5509
Email: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Ross Warner
Phone: +86 (10) 6508-0677
Email: [email protected]

Brandi Piacente
Phone: +1 (212) 481-2050
Email: [email protected]

GDS Holdings Limited

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”))

As of

December 31,
2020 As of June 30, 2021

RMB RMB US$

Assets

Current assets

Cash 16,259,457 12,326,895 1,909,193

Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 1,480,335 2,095,911 324,615

Value-added-tax (“VAT”) recoverable 155,620 175,707 27,214

Prepaid expenses and other current assets 423,394 525,426 81,378

Total current assets 18,318,806 15,123,939 2,342,400

Property and equipment, net 29,596,061 34,307,837 5,313,607

Prepaid land use rights, net 678,190 658,302 101,958

Operating lease right-of-use assets 3,059,700 3,455,166 535,137

Goodwill and intangible assets, net 3,381,715 6,207,036 961,347

Other non-current assets 2,224,323 2,704,103 418,811

Total assets 57,258,795 62,456,383 9,673,260

Liabilities, Mezzanine Equity and Equity

Current liabilities

Short-term borrowings and current portion of long-term borrowings 2,153,390 2,341,030 362,579

Accounts payable 3,657,112 3,788,340 586,740

Accrued expenses and other payables 1,492,649 1,939,666 300,416

Operating lease liabilities, current 86,258 136,197 21,094

Finance lease and other financing obligations, current 254,412 328,134 50,821

Total current liabilities 7,643,821 8,533,367 1,321,650

Long-term borrowings, excluding current portion 10,566,746 14,866,665 2,302,553

Convertible bonds payable 1,928,466 1,915,090 296,610

Operating lease liabilities, non-current 1,542,895 1,778,351 275,431

Finance lease and other financing obligations, non-current 8,097,881 8,192,595 1,268,871

Other long-term liabilities 811,264 775,755 120,149

Total liabilities 30,591,073 36,061,823 5,585,264

Mezzanine equity

Redeemable preferred shares 980,910 971,034 150,394

Redeemable non-controlling interests 120,820 311,902 48,307

Total mezzanine equity 1,101,730 1,282,936 198,701

GDS Holdings Limited shareholders’ equity

Ordinary shares 507 507 79

Additional paid-in capital 28,728,717 28,892,055 4,474,809

Accumulated other comprehensive loss (439,635 ) (542,513 ) (84,025 )

Accumulated deficit (2,723,597 ) (3,296,666 ) (510,588 )

Total GDS Holdings Limited shareholders’ equity 25,565,992 25,053,383 3,880,275

Non-controlling interests 0 58,241 9,020

Total equity 25,565,992 25,111,624 3,889,295

Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and equity 57,258,795 62,456,383 9,673,260

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”)

except for number of shares and per share data)

Three months ended Six months ended

June 30, 2020
March 31,
2021 June 30, 2021
June 30, 2020
June 30, 2021

RMB RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$

Net revenue

Service revenue 1,334,475 1,704,492 1,862,951 288,534 2,567,064 3,567,443 552,527

Equipment sales 7,730 1,475 968 150 15,559 2,443 378

Total net revenue 1,342,205 1,705,967 1,863,919 288,684 2,582,623 3,569,886 552,905

Cost of revenue (981,103 ) (1,309,115 ) (1,424,050 ) (220,557 ) (1,871,183 ) (2,733,165 ) (423,313 )

Gross profit 361,102 396,852 439,869 68,127 711,440 836,721 129,592

Operating expenses

Selling and marketing expenses (29,755 ) (35,695 ) (36,447 ) (5,645 ) (60,060 ) (72,142 ) (11,173 )

General and administrative expenses (156,679 ) (231,099 ) (247,903 ) (38,395 ) (273,722 ) (479,002 ) (74,188 )

Research and development expenses (10,243 ) (9,293 ) (8,605 ) (1,333 ) (18,987 ) (17,898 ) (2,772 )

Income from operations 164,425 120,765 146,914 22,754 358,671 267,679 41,459

Other income (expenses):

Net interest expenses (300,649 ) (357,670 ) (411,722 ) (63,768 ) (561,514 ) (769,392 ) (119,164 )

Foreign currency exchange (loss) gain, net (4,587 ) 1,202 (981 ) (152 ) (17,206 ) 221 34

Gain from purchase price adjustment 55,154 0 0 0 55,154 0 0

Others, net 10,988 16,309 18,477 2,862 13,904 34,786 5,388

Loss before income taxes (74,669 ) (219,394 ) (247,312 ) (38,304 ) (150,991 ) (466,706 ) (72,283 )

Income tax expenses (26,378 ) (59,343 ) (51,151 ) (7,922 ) (42,087 ) (110,494 ) (17,113 )

Net loss (101,047 ) (278,737 ) (298,463 ) (46,226 ) (193,078 ) (577,200 ) (89,396 )

Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests 0 0 141 22 0 141 22

Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests 0 1,996 1,994 309 0 3,990 618

Net loss attributable to GDS Holdings Limited shareholders (101,047 ) (276,741 ) (296,328 ) (45,895 ) (193,078 ) (573,069 ) (88,756 )

Accretion to redemption value of redeemable non-controlling interests 0 (11,970 ) (16,301 ) (2,525 ) 0 (28,271 ) (4,379 )

Net loss available to GDS Holdings Limited shareholders (101,047 ) (288,711 ) (312,629 ) (48,420 ) (193,078 ) (601,340 ) (93,135 )

Cumulative dividend on redeemable preferred shares (13,442 ) (12,183 ) (12,228 ) (1,894 ) (26,667 ) (24,411 ) (3,781 )

Net loss available to GDS Holdings Limited ordinary shareholders (114,489 ) (300,894 ) (324,857 ) (50,314 ) (219,745 ) (625,751 ) (96,916 )

Loss per ordinary share

Basic and diluted (0.10 ) (0.21 ) (0.22 ) (0.03 ) (0.19 ) (0.43 ) (0.07 )

Weighted average number of ordinary share outstanding

Basic and diluted 1,190,834,806 1,445,786,554 1,449,629,053 1,449,629,053 1,186,168,652 1,447,718,418 1,447,718,418

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”))

Three months ended Six months ended

June 30,
2020 March 31,
2021 June 30, 2021
June 30,
2020 June 30,
2021

RMB RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$

Net loss (101,047 ) (278,737 ) (298,463 ) (46,226 ) (193,078 ) (577,200 ) (89,396 )

Foreign currency translation adjustments, net of nil tax 15,158 26,123 (129,001 ) (19,980 ) 5,609 (102,878 ) (15,934 )

Comprehensive loss (85,889 ) (252,614 ) (427,464 ) (66,206 ) (187,469 ) (680,078 ) (105,330 )

Comprehensive loss attributable to non-controlling interests 0 0 141 22 0 141 22

Comprehensive loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests 0 1,996 1,994 309 0 3,990 618

Comprehensive loss attributable to GDS Holdings Limited shareholders (85,889 ) (250,618 ) (425,329 ) (65,875 ) (187,469 ) (675,947 ) (104,690 )

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”))

Three months ended Six months ended

June 30, 2020 March 31,
2021 June 30, 2021 June 30, 2020 June 30, 2021

RMB RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$

Net loss (101,047 ) (278,737 ) (298,463 ) (46,226 ) (193,078 ) (577,200 ) (89,396 )

Depreciation and amortization 390,197 560,220 619,613 95,966 709,223 1,179,833 182,733

Amortization of debt issuance cost and debt discount 42,758 35,942 65,235 10,104 57,135 101,177 15,670

Share-based compensation expense 66,699 108,111 100,498 15,565 133,842 208,609 32,309

Gain from purchase price adjustment (55,154 ) 0 0 0 (55,154 ) 0 0

Others (27,522 ) (13,135 ) 25,659 3,974 (52,748 ) 12,524 1,940

Changes in operating assets and liabilities (129,894 ) (436,598 ) (149,268 ) (23,121 ) (582,982 ) (585,866 ) (90,740 )

Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities 186,037 (24,197 ) 363,274 56,262 16,238 339,077 52,516

Purchase of property and equipment and land use rights (1,021,925 ) (2,274,905 ) (1,868,400 ) (289,377 ) (3,547,603 ) (4,143,305 ) (641,716 )

Payments related to acquisitions and investments (326,971 ) (32,805 ) (2,968,828 ) (459,813 ) (337,233 ) (3,001,633 ) (464,892 )

Net cash used in investing activities (1,348,896 ) (2,307,710 ) (4,837,228 ) (749,190 ) (3,884,836 ) (7,144,938 ) (1,106,608 )

Net proceeds from financing activities 5,268,130 938,433 1,947,569 301,639 5,872,392 2,886,002 446,982

Net cash provided by financing activities 5,268,130 938,433 1,947,569 301,639 5,872,392 2,886,002 446,982

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and restricted cash 23,900 46,069 (173,008 ) (26,794 ) 49,487 (126,939 ) (19,659 )

Net increase (decrease) of cash and restricted cash 4,129,171 (1,347,405 ) (2,699,393 ) (418,083 ) 2,053,281 (4,046,798 ) (626,769 )

Cash and restricted cash at beginning of period 3,897,372 16,492,929 15,145,524 2,345,743 5,973,262 16,492,929 2,554,429

Cash and restricted cash at end of period 8,026,543 15,145,524 12,446,131 1,927,660 8,026,543 12,446,131 1,927,660

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED

RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS

(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”)

except for percentage data)

Three months ended Six months ended

June 30, 2020
March 31,
2021 June 30, 2021
June 30, 2020
June 30, 2021

RMB RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$

Gross profit 361,102 396,852 439,869 68,127 711,440 836,721 129,592

Depreciation and amortization 341,618 496,939 536,240 83,053 638,219 1,033,179 160,019

Operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights 0 1,259 1,271 197 0 2,530 392

Accretion expenses for asset retirement costs 944 1,834 1,432 222 1,840 3,266 506

Share-based compensation expenses 17,336 31,147 28,039 4,343 34,439 59,186 9,166

Adjusted GP 721,000 928,031 1,006,851 155,942 1,385,938 1,934,882 299,675

Adjusted GP margin 53.7
% 54.4
% 54.0
% 54.0
% 53.7
% 54.2
% 54.2
%

GDS HOLDINGS LIMITED

RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS

(Amount in thousands of Renminbi (“RMB”) and US dollars (“US$”)

except for percentage data)

Three months ended Six months ended

June 30, 2020
March 31,
2021 June 30, 2021
June 30, 2020
June 30, 2021

RMB RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$

Net loss (101,047 ) (278,737 ) (298,463 ) (46,226 ) (193,078 ) (577,200 ) (89,396 )

Net interest expenses 300,649 357,670 411,722 63,768 561,514 769,392 119,164

Income tax expenses 26,378 59,343 51,151 7,922 42,087 110,494 17,113

Depreciation and amortization 390,197 560,220 619,613 95,966 709,223 1,179,833 182,733

Operating lease cost relating to prepaid land use rights 4,721 9,506 9,909 1,535 5,217 19,415 3,007

Accretion expenses for asset retirement costs 944 1,834 1,432 222 1,840 3,266 506

Share-based compensation expenses 66,699 108,111 100,498 15,565 133,842 208,609 32,309

Gain from purchase price adjustment (55,154 ) 0 0 0 (55,154 ) 0 0

Adjusted EBITDA 633,387 817,947 895,862 138,752 1,205,491 1,713,809 265,436

Adjusted EBITDA margin 47.2
% 47.9
% 48.1
% 48.1
% 46.7
% 48.0
% 48.0
%

________________________

1 During the third quarter of 2020, the Company has changed the description of “Adjusted Net Operating Income” and “Adjusted Net Operating Income Margin”, to “Adjusted Gross Profit” and “Adjusted Gross Profit Margin”, respectively. The change in description and presentation of non-GAAP reconciliation does not change the outcome of the operating metrics or financial results.

Posted on August 17, 2021 7:03 am
ACI Worldwide Announces 2021 Innovation Award Winners, Recognizing Global Digital Payments Innovation

ACI Worldwide Announces 2021 Innovation Award Winners, Recognizing Global Digital Payments Innovation

National ITMX, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Plexus Worldwide and Volkswagen Payments Receive Top Honors

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time payments and digital payment software solutions, today announced the winners of the 2021 ACI Innovation Awards. The awards recognize leading banks, financial intermediaries, merchants and billers around the world for their innovative use of ACI’s digital payments portfolio. Winners were selected by a panel of judges composed of ACI experts and industry analysts from Celent, Javelin Strategy & Research and Mercator Advisory Group.

This year’s winners include:

National ITMX—Thailand’s National Interbank Transaction Management and Exchange (ITMX) is responsible for developing and delivering Thailand’s digital payments infrastructure. ITMX modernized Thailand’s bulk payments processing system with ACI’s real-time payments solution on ISO20022, which has been successfully implemented across all 33 ITMX member banks. The next stage of growth, utilizing the real-time bulk payments network and ISO 20022 standards, will come from the merchant retail and business-to-business sectors with the introduction of more innovative overlay payment services.

Oklahoma Wesleyan University—a four-year university accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs to students worldwide. At the start of the pandemic, school officials wanted to move from physical to digital ID cards. They implemented ACI moBills Digital IDs for students, which has been a resounding success, with more than 80 percent uptake among students. The initiative digitized ID cards and enabled the school to continue accepting payments during the campus shutdown.

Plexus Worldwide—one of the largest direct-selling health and wellness companies in the world. Plexus was encountering high chargeback rates and low approval rates upon its expansion into Mexico. This resulted in unwanted customer friction. After implementing ACI Secure eCommerce, authentication rates improved by 45 percent and fraud rates declined by 82 percent.

Volkswagen Payments—the payments arm of the Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen Payments developed a digital marketplace, creating a new business model of direct online sales with new revenue streams for the group’s car brands. Its payments system, enabled through ACI, allowed car manufacturers to offer customers additional on-demand services and products; it also streamlined the consumer experience through in-car and “out-car” services; and it established a direct contact between car brands and their customers.

“At ACI Worldwide, innovation is at the foundation of every customer relationship. ACI Innovation Award winners have continued to advance the use of our solutions to deliver cutting-edge payment experiences that better serve their customers,” said Eve Aretakis, chief revenue officer, ACI Worldwide. “We congratulate this year’s winners on their great results, and we are proud of the long-lasting relationships we have with each of them.”

For additional information on the Innovation Awards program and winners, please visit: www.aciworldwide.com/aci-innovation-awards

About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide is a global software company that provides mission-critical real-time payment solutions to corporations. Customers use our proven, scalable and secure solutions to process and manage digital payments, enable omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. We combine our global footprint with local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.

© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2021

ACI, ACI Worldwide, ACI Payments, Inc., ACI Pay, Speedpay and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties’ trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210817005018/en/

Media

Dan Ring

[email protected]

Nidhi Alberti

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America Florida

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Insurance Finance Security Banking Professional Services Software Retail Online Retail

MEDIA:

Logo

Posts pagination

Previous page Page 1 … Page 28,477 Page 28,478 Page 28,479 … Page 43,445 Next page